Are you passionate about the supporting LGBTQ+ Youth ? Do you want to make a difference in the lives of LGBTQ+ youth in our community? Sussex Pride invites you to join our team as a youth program volunteer.
LGBTQ+ youth face unique challenges. This includes mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, as well as higher rates of substance use, and higher rates of HIV/AIDS. These disparities are driven by the minority stress youth experience in their day to day life. The good news is that you can make a difference. A report from the Trevor Project, for example, found that LGBTQ youth who report having at least one accepting adult were 40% less likely to report a suicide attempt in the past year.
Responsibilities
As the a volunteer with Sussex Pride Youth, you will be responsible for planning an coordinating events for young people (aged 13-17) and for communicating with our youth in between meetings. Specifically:
- Plan monthly social events for young people. With input from youth and other youth program volunteers, you will plan monthly social gatherings for LGBTQ community. This is an opportunity for LGBTQ+ Youth to connect and find peer support. These events typically take place on the second Saturday of every month. In the past some of our activities have included: bowling, roller skating, pottery painting, movie nights, and holiday parties.
- Coordinate the monthly social events. Youth volunteers let youth know about the events. Youth typically RSVP on the website, and youth volunteers will then send out reminders prior to the event. Youth volunteers are asked to arrive 15 minutes before the stated start time of the event. Youth volunteers will engage young people and encourage them to engage in conversation with each other during the event. This is an opportunity best suited for someone who lives in Delaware year-round.
- Stay in contact with young people throughout the month. Much of the communication and requests for assistance from young people take place online. You will be in touch with young people and communicate online through a discord server and a text thread and a group chat.
- Participate in ongoing training and support. Sussex Pride is a member of CenterLink, the community of LGBTQ+ Centers, and we participate in their program YouthLink. Through YouthLink, you will have the opportunity to connect with other youth workers to find support and receive ongoing training.
Requirements
Individuals will be asked to:
- Complete a criminal background check.
- Complete a training on our youth-adult interaction policies and to adhere to those policies.
- Be willing to learn and utilize new apps young people use to communicate including Discord and GroupMe. You do not need to be an expert on these apps, but you need to have a willingness to learn and use these apps, and other emerging communication tools.
- Respond to youth inquiries in a timely manner
- Attend youth events and arrive 15 minutes prior to start time. Provide advance notice if you are unable to attend an event or are expected to be late.
Additional Skills
The following are not requirements, but if you have these skills we’d like to know about them
- Experience working with youth
- Experience working with the LGBTQ community
- Proficiency or a desire to learn WordPress
- Proficiency or a desire to learn Canva for creating visually appealing graphics.
If you’re excited about the opportunity to make an impact in the lives of young people, we encourage you to apply! We are only looking to onboard two new youth volunteers. We will most likely have more applicants than we can accept at this time. If we are not able to accomodate you, please visit Sussex Pride Volunteers to learn about other volunteer opportunities.
To express your interest, please email us at youth@sussexpride.org We would love to see an overview of your relevant experience and how you envision contributing to our team. If you are interested, please respond by May 26. Let’s work together to support LGBTQ+ Youth.